Questions of things I'm having trouble with

[Katacara]

Hello all, as you may know I'm a fairly new cham owner (almost a month now). I think at this point I am obsessed with chams!! I have even taken 3 stitches making a cricket container to keep his food happy (I added a pic just for posterity lol)!! I read for hours here on the forum, and am now finding myself putting pencil to paper designing new cages that will fit perfectly in the space I have.

Anyway I digress, there are a few things that I still find myself wondering about. Here is my "ask for help form"

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled, aprox 2 months old, almost 1 month with me
• Handling - I try to get him out at lest once a day for 30-90 min
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Crickets are the only thing he will currently eat: What amount? As many as he wants: What is the schedule? I put a bunch in his feeder cup first thing in the AM, and take it out before bed. There are also free range escaped crickets and a few free range hornworms in his cage: How are you gut-loading your feeders? I have made a slurry of ingredients from the "best & good" gutload food list. I add that and a bunch of crickets to a small critter cage in the am so they can feed on it all day and night. I have added a picture of his feeder cup.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I am currently dusting with zoo-med repti-cal (w/o D3) every feeding. I have cal with D3 and multivitamin powder on the way.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Dripper all day & hand misting (until my mistking gets here): How often and how long to you mist? At least 3 times a day until the water in the bottle runs out: Do you see your chameleon drinking? I do not see him drink but he is not dehydrated
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Poop and urates look good, poo is solid but not to hard and urates are white: Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Yes he was just tested yesterday when we went for his check-up
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Before coming into my care he was kept in this tank: (see picture of the glass fish tank), his crickets where not being dusted, and he did not have any uvb that I know of. The vet did say yesterday that he didn't see signs of MBD.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? All screen cage 16x16x30. I have added current pictures of his cage.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? Uvb 18' 15 watt t8 tropical bulb, and a heating bulb (not red) What is your daily lighting schedule? 12ish on & 12ish off (timer is also being shipped)
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is approximately 84-88 the others have not been measured
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? This is also not currently measured but is on its way
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and one I do not remember the name of but is on the safe plants list
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Next to my bed: Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? I am in my room 99% of the time: At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Almost 6 feet from the floor, however only 4 feet from the edge of my mattress
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Western Massachusetts

Current Problem -

1) in the last few days it seems that Peepers has become displeased/stressed while in his cage. He is almost always very dark in color. He was not like this before, and nothing has changed in his environment I asked the vet about this and he didn't really have an answer. I have added pictures of him dark in his cage.
2) Are field trips outside worth chasing him down in his cage to make him come out? Once he is out he perks right up and is a happy green, but he will not come out on his own, and will not hand feed.
3) Does anyone see things I need to change right now? I have many things being shipped to me as I type, to make life for both of us better, but if there is something that cannot wait to be changed let me know.

Any help will be great! I just want to make sure he is happy.

 

[Andee]

He needs some extra foliage up where he hangs out the most, he could also do with some more branches. The extra foliage can be fake until some things grow, unless you have already seen him nibbling on plants?At his age he likely won't start doing that for at least another few months. So plastic plants will likely be safe in my opinion until everything else grows out more. He may just feel too exposed. He has a huge open space which likely makes him uncomfortable.

 

[Katacara]

Alright thanks Andee!!, branches I have a lot of!! So I will add some more tomorrow. And I have seen him chomp some plants, I thought I was going to be good with fake until I had to move him to a bigger cage, but he foiled that plan when I noticed he was trying to munch the plastic plants. So I ran right out that day and got real plants. I will go out tomorrow and see if I can find anything that will work in the set up I have now. Any suggestions of what might work with what I have?

 

[Andee]

*sighs* him already eating plants makes filling out his cage a pain, he's a really young plant eater, but that will be good for him in the long run! If you could find a relatively small vine plant that you could train... that might work? I would usually suggest a pothos but I am not sure if you could find one that will work with your cage size... You might be able to find a inbetween sized schefflera plant?

 

[Katacara]

I am currently designing his "forever" cage that I will be building. I was hoping to have at least another month until I had to have it finished. I don't have anything but a rough sketch right now. Do you think it would just be better for him if I move up that time line also, and start it now? *Sigh* he has already been quite the challenge!!

 

[Katacara]

So I am designing my cage and wondering if I have 2 mist King nozzles do I also need a dripper? The cage is going to be 30 long X 24 deep X 55 tall (all in inches). Thanks!

 

[Andee]

he's too young in my opinion to move in that size of cage, whether he is cup fed or not, I would be really worried about him in that size of cage. Depending on how often you plan to mist you likely would not need a dripper. I don't use a dripper at all and I only use one mistking nozzle.

 

[Katacara]

Thanks Andee, your amazing!! It will likely be at least 2 months before I can start assembly (maybe longer). He is 2 months old now, do you think he would be ok in a cage that size at 4 months old? If not how long should I wait?

 

[Katacara]

So thinking about my timeline again, it will probably be more like 3-4 months before Peepers new cage is "move-in ready" that would make him 5-6 months old. What do you think?